Singer-Songwriter Miller Shares his Musical Journey with Students

Curb College recently hosted a seminar with 22-year-old singer-songwriter Tor Miller. Students listened eagerly as Miller answered questions and played four of his original songs.

Miller moved from Brooklyn to New Jersey during his childhood but continued going to the same school in the city. To fight the boredom from the long car rides, Miller’s mom gave him albums from artists including Elton John, David Bowie and Fleetwood Mac. Miller claims that this, in addition to his childhood piano lessons, sparked his interest in music.

Miller began writing and playing constantly and even started a pop-punk band in high school. His passion for music led him to attend New York University’s Tisch School of The Arts as a student at the Clive Davis School of Recorded Music. Miller signed with Glassnote Records in early 2014, dropped out of New York University and moved to London one week later.

Miller shared how he started writing non-stop and honed in on his personal style after living in London. “I infuse a lot of dark imagery into my music and base it off of my experiences and relationships,” said Miller. Miller’s best advice for the students was to write about what you know because then people will believe it and want to hear more.

“I have gotten to do some pretty cool things in the past few years,” said Miller. These experiences include co-writing with the writer of Adele’s smash hit “Set Fire to the Rain” and opening up for Grammy nominated English singer-songwriter James Bay.

Miller shifted over to his keyboard and played his songs “Midnight,” “Carter & Cash,” “Ketamine Cat” and his upcoming single, “Baby Blue.” He is releasing a single in March, starting a tour with Norwegian singer-songwriter Aurora in April and is projected to release an album this upcoming summer.